Of Monsters and Men
by KatieBees
Summary: Losing everything during the apocalypse can make things hard. Having to survive on her own, even harder. But when a desperate need for supplies leads Lara to a distrusting group of people, will she be able to continue surviving on her own? Or will she come to rely on them? Will they ever accept her as one of their own? Eventual Daryl/OC.
1. Caught Red Handed

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Walking dead, so anything you recognize isn't mine. I do however own my OC's and anything you don't recognize._

_Edited: 28-10-2013 (Minor Corrections)_

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Caught Red Handed

Peering from her spot in the shade, Lara watched the activity on the farm through her binoculars. Feeling sweat rolling down the side of her face, she hastily ran the back of her hand across her forehead as she cursed the humid Georgia climate.

_I'd do anything for a breeze right now. _She sighed, quickly glancing around herself in search of any danger, before bringing the binoculars back up to her eyes. _And maybe a full bottle of water._

Her eyes stared out across the field, taking in the sight of the old white house sitting next to a large barn. There was a shed and a chicken coop nestled next to it. Before the house sat several tents next to an old Winnebago RV. Focusing in on the living area and where the most activity seemed to be happening, she looked for anything items of interest.

Normally she would stay away from other people, experience having taught her that they could often be a greater danger than the Biters that walked the land. But her light and nearly empty backpack reminded her that if she didn't find water, food, and potentially weapons soon, then she wouldn't last much longer. She shook her head at the food that had been left out. _And by the look of it, this group has plenty to spare._

Noting the old man sitting on top of the Winnebago who seemed to be on guard duty, she focused in on the group of people who were hanging around in front of one of the trucks. From the way they all were gazing down at the hood of the truck, she guessed that they must be looking at something laid out on top of it. Trying to get an idea of how many people there were she took a quick head count.

_Maybe ten or eleven people. Maybe more in the house. _Pausing, she shrugged to herself. _Mostly women and children too. Could be worse._

As she watched them, her eyes caught sight of a black duffel bag on the hood of one of the other cars. Zooming in on the bag she realized that the side had the word 'police' printed out in big white letters.

_No way I'm this lucky..._A small smile slowly crossed her face. The bag laying out in the open was full of guns, and from the shape of the bag there could be quite a bit of ammunition in there as well. _Just going to have to find a way to get that bag._

Movement from the group had her gazing back in their direction. From their agitated movements and unhappy expressions she guessed that things weren't going alright with the group and wondered what had happened.

As the discussion in the group seemed to end, she watched as a tall slender man and an Asian man wearing a baseball cap jumped in the truck as the others moved away. Engine roaring to life, the truck pulled away from the house, and headed down the road away from the farm. The remaining members of the group gazed out at the truck before slowly dispersing.

Taking note of where everyone went, she watched as most of the group headed inside the house, while two of the men headed out towards a smoking pile in front of the large barn.

_Well, this will be easier with a couple of them gone. _Lara thought. _All I need to do is sneak in while no one is looking, grab some stuff; get the guns, and make a break for it. Should be easy, right?_

Scoffing at how easy it sounded in her head, she decided that now was as good a time as ever. It would be better to be done before the two guys returned from where ever they had decided to go.

Sliding her backpack off her shoulder, she stuffed the binoculars into the main compartment of her bag before withdrawing a bottle of water.

Sighing at the pathetic amount of water she had left, she took a small sip, feeling the warm water slide down her dry throat and into her empty stomach. _Definitely looking forward to some food..._

As if sensing her thought, her stomach let out a loud growl.

Patting it soothingly she sighed again before packing away her water before standing up as she swung her pack onto her back. Adjusting the hip and chest strap in case she needed to run, she glanced around the area for any other potential danger in the area. Seeing no sign of Biters or other people in the area, she started to make her way towards the house.

Keeping just inside the tree line, she curved her way around the property, each step bringing her closer to the old white house. As she walked, she tried to keep an eye on what everyone was doing, especially the man sitting on guard duty. Fortunately, he was starring down the road that the truck had driven down not to long before.

As she moved closer to the house, she slowed her footsteps in an effort to reduce any noise she might be making. Arriving at the edge of the forest closest to the house, she wiped her sweaty palms on her brown cargo pants, suddenly realizing that she was quite nervous.

_Especially after the last group..._

The thought made her pause to consider how wise this decision was.

_Come on, Lara. You can do this. You need supplies, and they have supplies. Plus they can't be doing too badly if they are just leaving their weapons out in the open like that, can they?_

Feeling slightly more encouraged at the thought, she shook out her shoulders, took a deep breath and slowly crept out of the safety of the trees, quickly making her way to the shadowed areas right between the house and the chicken coop.

Moving cautiously, Lara could feel adrenaline kick in; bringing all her senses into focus and becoming very aware of the danger she was putting herself in. As she neared the porch near the front of the house, she peered onto the deck making sure the coast was clear and looking for the easiest route to the bag of guns.

Judging the distance, she figured her best bet would be to make a mad dash, grab the bag, and make a beeline to the trees before anyone was the wiser. Quickly taking note that all the people in the group seemed to be in the house or near the barn, she took a breath as she realized that this was her chance.

_Come on, Lara! You can do this._ Taking a deep breath, she glanced around one more time before pushing herself away from the house and sprinting for the bag as fast as her legs would take her.

Adrenaline pumping through her system, she quickly approached the bag that was sitting open on the hood of the truck. She quickly looped her arms through the straps and pulled it off the hood. Not expecting the heavy weight it fell to the ground with a loud thump.

_Shit, this thing is heavy._ She cursed herself for not having thought about it. _You idiot! Of course it's heavy. Guns are not exactly made of Styrofoam!_

Having only made a few steps back towards the safety of the trees, her heart sunk as she heard several shouts behind her.

_Double shit._

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that the man standing on top of the Winnebago was frantically pointing in her direction and yelling down at two of the men who were quickly moving towards her. The well-muscled black guy was carrying a baseball bat in one hand as he ran, and with a jolt of panic she realized the man with the shaved head was carrying a handgun.

Realizing she had been caught in the act, and deciding that her life was worth more than the bag of guns, she quickly dropped it before sprinting as fast as she could back the way she came. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a few more people coming out of the house, having been drawn outside by the shouting.

Deciding that those who were giving chase were the larger threat, she ignored them, glancing over her shoulder again at the two men giving chase, and felt panic set in when she noticed that they had covered a lot more ground than she had.

_How are they so fast?_

Chickens fluttered about their cage as she dashed passed them toward the edge of the house, and more importantly, the tree line.

As she closed the distance between her and the trees, she felt a slow sense of safety return to her. _Once you get to the trees, you can lose them! Just keep running!_

All thoughts of safety fled from her mind as something collided with her with the force of a train, sending her crashing to the ground. Pain seared through her ribs and legs as she tumbled a few times before coming to lay on her front, cheek pressed painfully into the dry grass.

Realizing that a man had just tackled her sent her scrambling to get to her feet and back to the safety of the trees. But before she could fully get her arms under her, something collided painfully with her side flipping her onto her back. Stars exploded before her eyes as she gasped for breath, curling in on herself as she tried to protect what she was now sure were broken ribs.

As her vision swam back into focus, a man leaned over and grasped her hair, making her cry out as he painfully yanked her head back.

Feeling the cold prick of a knife on her suddenly vulnerable and exposed throat had her freezing in place, even as panic flooded her system.

All she could do as she lay in pain, gasping for air, was stare up into the green eyes of the person holding the knife.

"Who the hell are you!?"

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A/N: Hey guys! I just finished watching season 3 of the Walking Dead (I know, I know, a little delayed...) and some ideas I have had floating around my head for awhile started to come together. So somehow I have not ended up writing the start of my first Fanfiction...ever! I have to admit that I am pretty excited about it.

Please let me know what you think. Feedback is encouraged, as it is the only way I will know what is going right and what is going horribly wrong. I want to take this writing opportunity as a chance to improve. And please, no flames! They aren't very helpful at all.

Thanks for reading!

KatieBees


	2. Tough Beginnings

Trying to inhale air into lungs that were clearly not working was quite an unpleasant experience. Having a man crouch over her, holding a knife to her exposed throat was definitely not making the experience any better.

"I said, who the hell are you?" The man said, enunciating every word by tightening his hand in her hair.

_Knew I should have had a haircut._

Backpack digging painfully into her back, she winced at the increasing pain at her scalp. Taking in his rugged features, Lara decided she didn't like this man. _Who the hell does he think he is?_

As her lungs started cooperating again, she decided she wasn't going to waste her breath telling him anything. Drawing in much needed air, she proceeded to clamp her mouth shut in a defiant scowl.

The man above her scowled, his features darkening as he took in her defiant expression.

"Daryl!"

The man above her looked up at the sound of what she assumed was his name. Taking the opportunity, Lara quickly grabbed a rock that her hand had brushed against and swung at his head with all her might, hoping to knock him unconscious.

Daryl must have felt the movement, because as she swung the rock towards his head, he let go of her hair and grabbed her wrist in a bruising grip. At the painful grip, she let out a gasp as she was forced to let go of the rock.

"Nice try, bitch. I ain't gonna fall for shit like that." Daryl spat at her, readjusting his grip of her wrist before calling out to the others. "Over here! I got her."

At the sound of quickly approaching footsteps she began to panic, her struggles renewed in an attempt to get away. She could hear the voices of the other men who had been giving chase and watched as they rounded the corner of the house.

"Let me go!"

The black man stopped at the edge of the house, bracing his hands on his knees in an effort to catch his breath as he took in the scene before him. The other man, the one with the shaved head continued to walk purposefully towards them, the murderous expression on his face sending a chill down her spine.

Boots came to a stop near her head; cold eyes stared down at her as he examined her, hands resting on his belt near his gun. Flinching away from him as he slowly crouched near her, he rested his forearms on his thighs clasping his hands together in front of his face. He took in the scared expression on her face, and sighed before running his hands over his face.

"Did you really think you could just steal from us?"

Although the question came out gently, she could hear the edge of a threat in his voice.

Jaw clenched, she starred defiantly up at him.

Seeing that he would not be getting an answer out of her, he stood up, reaching into his back pocket and fishing out some handcuffs before he looked at Daryl. "Flip her over."

Daryl roughly grabbed her shoulder, turning her onto her stomach. Inhaling sharply at being rolled onto her sore ribs, she didn't get a chance to move before both her wrists were pulled behind her back. Quickly pulling off her backpack, her wrist were brought together and she felt the cool metal slide over her wrists before tightening.

A feeling of hopelessness started to wash over her she lay with her cheek pressed in the dirt. Trying not to cry as the adrenaline faded and her situation kicked in, she took deep even breaths to keep the panic at bay.

Starring out blankly before her, she listened as the two men walked slightly away from her, and started talking in quiet voices.

Hearing the murmur of more voices, she turned her head to face the sound. Standing at the edge of the house was the rest of the group from the camp, all of them gazing at her and whispering amongst themselves.

Looking at the group that had gathered, she could see from the way they stood together and leaned towards each other, that they had known one another for quite awhile. And the distrust she could see every time that they looked at her told her they hadn't dealt with strangers in quite some time.

Turning her head away from their distrusting gazes, she bit her lip to keep from crying.

A jolt of jealously trailed through her. She hadn't had anyone to watch her back in a long time.

The last person to watch her back had ended up dead.

Dale knew that the girl's sudden dash through the camp they considered safe had startled the entire group, and after the rough last couple of days, he could understand why everyone was unhappy.

Gazing at the young woman laying on the ground, he took in her dirty clothes. He could see from the way they hung off of her, that she was underweight and probably hadn't had a decent meal in a long time. At the moment she was currently laying on her front with her hands cuffed behind her back, face turned away from the group.

T-Dog stood awkwardly next to her shuffling from one foot to the other, arms crossed at his chest indicating his displeasure at being assigned guard duty by Shane. The rest of the group stood around the back of the house trying to figure out what to do with their unexpected guest.

"We don't know if she is dangerous or not, for all we know there could be more people out there!" Andrea said, waving her arms out towards the forest as if to prove a point.

"Of course there are more people out there, we would be arrogant to think we are the only ones left." Dale asked. "Maybe she is dangerous? But have you looked at her? She looks like she is barely out of her teens. Not to mention that it looks like she hasn't had a decent meal in a long, long time."

"Are you forgetting that she tried to steal our guns?" Shane said with a sneer, getting up in his face. "That doesn't sound as 'not-dangerous' to me."

Not one to back down when he believed he was right, he looked around the group looking for any sign that he was the only one who felt this way. Dale asked, "Well then what would you have us do? Send her back out? Keep her cuffed forever? That's no way to treat another human being, and you know it!"

"But what if Shane's right?" Lori called out from the back of the group. Dale could see from the way her arms were crossed protective in front of her that she wasn't comfortable with the situation. "What if there are more of them out there?"

"Well, maybe there are more out there, but maybe there aren't. Maybe she is alone." He said, gesturing towards their captive. "Until then, we have a young woman who might need our help, and instead we are treating her like a prisoner."

Shane approached him, shaking his head with an amused smile as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Do you really think I'm just going to let her waltz around the camp and do as she pleases? What happens when she hurts someone? We just lost Sophia; we don't need to lose any more people."

Turning away from Shane with a disgusted shake of his head, Dale focused on the rest of the group. "Does anyone else have an opinion? Or is Shane running a dictatorship here?"

As he focused on the other members around the group he could see the indecision on their faces, and knew that no one else would agree with him. "Anyone?"

When no one responded he shook his head in disappointment, taking a deep breath ready to let everyone know how disappointed he was, when a voice called out from the back of the group.

"She should stay locked up until Deputy Do-Right and Chinaman return." At the new comment, Dale and the rest of the group turned in surprise to where Daryl was leaning against the house.

Thinking back to the first time he had met Daryl Dixon, Dale would never had believed that he would become a valuable and dedicated member of their rag-tag group. The rough and aggressive exterior that Daryl presented to everyone hid the attachment that had grown between him and the rest of the group. But after seeing the dedication and effort that the man put into the search of Sophia, Dale knew that the groups respect of the man had grown exponentially since the beginning.

As Daryl was not one who often voiced his opinion on matters pertaining to, rest of the group paused at his sudden input.

"I agree with him." Carol said softly from where she was standing next to Lori and Andrea. "We should be having this discussion as a group, the whole group."

Shane looked between Daryl, Dale, and Carol and realized he was outvoted when no one stood up for his side. Running his hand over his short hair he reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but don't come cryin' to me she hurts someone."

Glancing around, he focused on Daryl. "You want her to stay, you deal with her." Fishing out the keys for the cuffs from his back pocket he tossed them to Daryl, who caught them easily with a raised eyebrow. "Throw her in the shed."

Dale saw the scowl cross Daryl's face, and knew the other man did not enjoy being told what to do. But despite his displeasure, the younger man pushed himself off the side of the house and headed towards the girl.

Daryl walked towards the girl, wondering why he had bothered to voice his opinion at all. He was hoping he would have some peace and quiet today after the craziness of the past couple of days. Now he had to deal with the captive until Rick and the others returned to the farm. As he approached, T-Dog glanced at him a with a questioning expression. "So, what was the verdict?"

"She's stayin' in the shed until Rick and the other's get back." Reaching down, Daryl grasped her upper arm, and T-Dog did the same on her other side.

Feeling her weight drag downward, and knowing that she was being difficult on purpose, Daryl shook her arm. "Cut it out. You are either walking to the shed or I will drag you there. What's it goin' to be?"

With a scowl she looked up at him. "I'll walk, thanks." She spat, venom dripping off every word.

As she glared at him he took note of how young she looked. Green eyes glared back at him from her round baby-face features. Her small nose was lightly peppered with freckles, probably due to the amount of time spent out in the sun. He figured she had to be around twenty years old, and the top of her head just reached under his chin. Long brown hair which had been previously pulled back into a bun was now a mess that fell around her face, framing her expression of defiance.

She wore brown cargo pants over well worn hiking boots. A short sleeved loose t-shirt with a wide neck hung off her shoulders and he could see the shoulder straps of a racer-back tank top underneath it. She had an athletic build and he could see from the way her collarbones stood out, that she hadn't had a decent meal in awhile.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." She sneered, bringing his eyes back to her face. From the nasty glare she was sending his way he realized he had probably been starring.

With a scoff Daryl looked away and continued to drag her towards the far shed. "You ain't got anything I'd want to look at anyways."

Quickly making eye contact with T-Dog over top of her head, Daryl bit back his annoyance and decided to ignore the smirk on the other man's face.

Ready to get rid of the newest annoyance in his life, he quickened his pace, causing her to stumble and struggle to catch up.

"Hey, wait. Slow down a sec, will you?"

The wince that crosses her face told Daryl that her ribs are probably very sore from their initial collision.

"Maybe ya should walk faster." He replied, yanking her arm and sending her crashing to her knees before he hauled her up to her feet again.

"Yeah, well maybe if someone hadn't broken my fucking ribs, and then cuffed my hands behind my back, maybe, I dunno, I'd be able to walk properly." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him.

Yanking her to a stop, she nearly fell again if not for him holding her up. Swinging her around so that they were face to face he leaned in.

"Listen here, girl. You'd best stop with the attitude unless you want to be fed to some walkers. See that pile over there?" He pointed at the pile of smoldering bodies nearby. "That was the last group that tried to mess with us. So if I were you. I'd keep, my mouth shut."

Daryl could see the curious look T-Dog was giving him. Both of them knowing that the smoldering pile of bodies was the walkers that had come out of the barn. Good thing she didn't need to know that.

He could see her searching his face for any sign of a lie, and swallowed when she could find none. He knew she understood when a small flare of fear crossed her face. Turning her face away from him, she clenched her jaw and started walking again, forcing them to keep walking and guide her to the shed.

Swinging open the shed door, he pushed her forcefully inside. Stopping herself from falling on her face, she turned to face him with a scowl.

"Make yourself at home. You'll be staying her until the others get back." He motioned around the small shed before pointing his finger close to her face, making her lean away from his proximity. " If you do somethin' stupid or try to escape, I won't have any problem with shooting you. So sit down. An' Don't move."

With that he turned around a walked out, shutting the shed door behind him and securing the door with the latch. Turning towards T-Dog who was standing next to the door he motioned towards the shed.

"Watch 'er. She'll probable do somethin' stupid soon enough." Daryl said, before turning and heading towards his tent.

Maybe he would finally get some peace and quiet.

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AN: Hey guys! Sorry it has taken me so long to post this chapter. School has been crazy busy this semester and it has been difficult to stay on top of everything and have time to write. No to worry though! I will continue posting.

Thanks to the two people who reviewed! I really appreciate it. It nice to know that someone is reading what I'm writing! :)

Let me know what you think so far.

Thanks for reading!


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